Eyes that Hear and Hearts that Understand: An Ethnographic Exploration of the Miraculous in Deaf Cultural Theology

Elizabeth Parks, MA in Deaf Studies, MA in Communication, Doctoral Candidate in Communication, University of Washington

In the narrative of Mark 7:31-37, Jesus performs two miraculous healings. The first, and that which is usually emphasized by those who hear, is a deaf person’s ears being opened. The second, and the one often emphasized by deaf cultural storytellers, is that deaf person being able to express himself clearly. Deaf people’s greatest desire is that they would be able to communicate with others – not that they would hear. To them, this would be truly miraculous. As Peschel and Peschel state, “what a person perceives as a miracle actually depends upon that person’s point of view…” (403). This paper challenges health care providers to rethink their perspectives of the sacred event of the miracle through patient-centered dialogue that shapes a collaborative response. A miracle is not only, and perhaps not even, physical healing. It is a miracle to be heard and understood.

As an ethnographic researcher in my first fieldwork experience, Ivan, a deaf Trinidadian pastor, told me in fluent American Sign Language: “The man we’re about to meet has never been beyond the boundaries of his house. I don’t know if he signs, but I’m going to try to talk with him and invite him to church.” In the minutes that followed, I watched Ivan use rudimentary gestures to communicate that he was deaf and a friend. The man’s face lit up and he slowly started waving his hands – but not in a way that indicated he understood or knew signed language. Returning, Ivan told me: “He doesn’t know his name, and I’m going to need more visits before he understands…but perhaps he’ll be able to join us soon.” This was the first of many experiences in which I met a person without hearing, without language, and without belonging.

Between 2006 and 2011, I investigated deaf cultural and linguistic diversity in a dozen countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. One salient research finding was the prominence of Christian spaces in which deaf people could gather to communicate and find acceptance. Many who felt isolation elsewhere found support in these sacred spaces. They became contexts for the miraculous: deaf people struggling to find their voices or be heard experienced the healing power of community.

In this paper, I challenge normative assumptions that place miracles primarily in the domain of the physical. I suggest, through interpretation of this Biblical narrative and ethnographic findings of the lived spirituality of deaf people across the Americas, that miraculous healing may be more about community or dialogue than about altering physical functions or normalizing physiological conditions. In the discussion portion, I welcome conference participants to reflect on where they have missed the miraculous, where they might invite a miracle, and the power of using this word in clinical work rather than shying from narrow applications and missing opportunities for approaching the sacred in everyday clinic practice.